


bound by honesty

by Narci



Series: See the Forest, Not Just the Trees [1]
Category: Mo Dao Zu Shi, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Gen, Happy Ending, Introspection, M/M, No beta we die like wwx
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26361541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narci/pseuds/Narci
Summary: When he was younger, Nie Huaisang used to complain about having to go to Cloud Recesses. Each year he failed, and his brother sent him back, and he’d whine the entire time. Now, though, Huaisang would give anything to go back to those times.-/-character study of wwx by nhs
Relationships: Nie Huaisang & Wei Wuxian
Series: See the Forest, Not Just the Trees [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1915600
Comments: 14
Kudos: 226





	bound by honesty

**Author's Note:**

> hasn't been legit edited, lmk if you notice mistakes!

Wei Wuxian was one of Nie Huaisang’s childhood friends. Everywhere the younger cultivator went, chaos followed, and chaos meant entertainment (and usually punishments.) Or at least it had before the Sunshot Campaign. After, well… chaos meant fear. Fear directed at Young Master Wei. It stressed Huaisang out majorly, but what was he supposed to do? Fight with his brother about the Wen remnants? Like that’d change his mind. So. Huaisang just watched everything unfold. 

It was something of a surprise to the cultivation world at large that Wei Wuxian wouldn’t just bend to the Jins’ will, but Huaisang couldn't imagine it any other way. His friend was never one to stumble in the face of opposition or difficulty. Huaisang had always admired him for it. They were so different, he had once assumed, Wei Wuxian was always straightforward about his beliefs and feelings. Bound by honor, some would say. Nie Huaisang admired him for that greatly because he could never do it. Acting against the whole world just for something you care about? It sounded terrifying. Huaisang could admit that he was sometimes a bit of a coward, but he thinks that just about anyone would hesitate with that much righteousness and purpose on their shoulders. And yet, Wei Wuxian never did. 

Day by day, more people feared the Yiling Patriarch. More people called for him to be stopped. (They didn’t usually say it straight, but anyone could tell that most people meant killed when they said ‘stopped’.) Huaisang could see the indecision Jiang Cheng felt every time another rumor spread about his brother. He could also understand why he was conflicted, but some small part of him maliciously whispered ‘if that was your brother, you would never let this happen… even if that meant you standing up to all the scary cultivators from the other sects.’ 

What he couldn’t understand was why it took him so long to realize that Wei Wuxian actually had a lot more in common with him than he thought. (And no, Huaisang is not saying that he also practices demonic cultivation; his brother would so totally break his legs if he did.) What Huaisang used to see as shamelessness and brazen, he gradually understood was actually a shield. For all that Wei Wuxian was honest, he was also a huge liar. That, Huaisang could relate to. If he and his friend shared any trait, it was the constant act they both put on. Huaisang pretended to be clueless, so he would be free to do what he wished... for the most part. Wei Wuxian pretended to be unaffected, cheerful, and unshakeable, so that when he did things no one else would be willing to, he would never truly be questioned. No one would realize exactly how much everything was taking its toll on him. 

Even Huaisang didn’t realize until Wei Wuxian stopped replying to the letters he sent to the Burial Mounds entirely. It pains him to admit that he could always see the strife in his friend’s eyes, but he never realized that he had to do something before Wei Wuxian broke because apparently no one else was willing to. (At this point, Huaisang had been unsure if Jiang Cheng really considered Young Master Wei his brother anymore because he sure wasn’t acting like he did.)

The epiphany came too late though. By the time Huaisang had started making plans to help the Wens and his friend, Jin Zixuan was dead. That was the point that made Huaisang stare at his hands and wish that he and Wei Wuxian were worse actors. Maybe then, he would have realized his friend needed help sooner, and the demonic cultivator might have figured out that he had an ally in the Nie Clan if nowhere else. (He still didn’t know what the hell Jiang Cheng was doing, and he didn’t even want to start on Lan Wangji.)

Instead, their lies were too convincing; their veils too thick. 

Nie Huaisang watched as Young Master Wei was besieged by a world too afraid of his power to stop and think about everything Wei Wuxian had already done to help it. He just watched while Wei Wuxian was crushed by the role he had willingly placed himself in. 

-/-

For the longest time, Nie Huaisang just lived with all the regret in his heart about what had been done to Wei Wuxian. He quietly wished that he had been able to do something. Anything. 

...That all changed when his brother died. The day Nie Mingjue experienced a serious Qi Deviation and disappeared after almost attacking Huaisang only to never return, everything about his world was tilted. Suddenly, he was the Sect Leader. Suddenly, he lost the brother that had always protected him. That had always loved him despite his threats.

When Mingjue died and Huaisang found out that the rat Jin GuangYao was responsible, he knew that he had to get back into his role. He had to don an even more impenetrable mask. If he wanted to avenge his brother, Huaisang needed to be so seemingly ignorant that Jin Guangyao never saw him coming. Every step along the way reminded him of how determined Wei Wuxian had been to protect the Wens, Huaisang understood it better now. Every time Huaisang shook his head while crying ‘I don’t know!’ he remembered his friend’s smile the last time he had seen him: how pained but strong it had been. 

It’s one late night of scheming that Huaisang finds the body sacrifice ritual. Suddenly, all he can think of is that Wei Wuxian would be able to help him. Wei Wuxian would have what it takes to overturn the Chief Cultivator himself. Huaisang can’t come up with any other plan that could work out quite as well. Sometimes to bring down an overgrown rat, all you need is a wildcat with a bad reputation.

It takes three months before he finds someone who’s perfect for the ritual. Mo Xuanyu is another victim of Jin Guangyao, but that’s not the only one he's been hurt by. Huaisang honestly sees secretly giving him the ritual as an act of mercy. Mo Xuanyu can end his suffering and ensure his revenge while furthering Huaisang’s own plans all at once. In a different time, maybe Huaisang would’ve held out his hand to Mo Xuanyu and offered him a safe place to recover and learn, but this was not that ideal timeline. All Huaisang could do was offer the boy a way out.

-/-

Wei Wuxian was resurrected. He’s no less intimidating when Huaisang sees him in Mo Xuanyu’s body, but it seems like a lot of the sharp edges he had gained before and after the Sunshot Campaign had been smoothed by time with someone who cared about him. (Maybe Wei Wuxian was acting again, but something told Huaisang at least a little bit of the settling was genuine.)

-/-

When Lan Xichen killed Jin Guangyao, Huaisang felt victorious… and sort of sad. When Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian clearly discovered Huaisang’s actions over the years, all he did was fan himself innocently and deny everything in a panic. 

After years of lying, Wei Wuxian was given a second chance to always be honest with at least one person. After years of lying, Nie Huaisang had lost his brother (two brothers really because Xichen would probably never fully forgive him), gained more responsibility than he ever wanted, and managed to resolve one of his biggest regrets. 

Deception comes at a cost. Liars will always feel the push of the truth grinding into their ribs with every breath. But sometimes, honesty binds stronger: it can limit actions to the point that one loses everything important to them. Sometimes the only choice available is to put on a mask and act the part.

**Author's Note:**

> leave a comment about whatever you liked or didn't like! i just wanted to try out a different sort of fic. 
> 
> i'm not so great at characterization, so i tried to improve it by doing character studies (i also just love NHS tbh), and i think this one is pretty good???? anyway, i hope y'all enjoyed it! <3<3<3
> 
> (p.s. i think the next part in this series will be from LQR's pov)


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